Position: Baucus will continue to be chair of the Senate Finance Committee, a position he has held since 2007 (he was also chair of the committee when Democrats controlled the Senate from June 2001 until January 2003). This committee has jurisdiction over the nation’s largest public welfare programs, including Medicaid and Social Security. Any major reform to health care or Social Security will need Baucus’s support to be successful.

Money Summary: Since 1989, Baucus has raised $24.8 million and spent $22.5 million of that. In the last 20 years, individual donations have comprised 47 percent of his money. Geographically speaking, Wall Street is a big boon to the Montana senator: the New York metro area, center of commerce and finance, has contributed more to Baucus than any other region, with DC, home to many finance lobbyists, not too far behind. Campaigns Donors: Despite having no serious opponent in the 2008 election cycle, Baucus raised $11.6 million for his campaign, nearly twice the amount ($6.7 million) he raised for his previous re-election bid in which he faced a challenger with some real financial clout. Most of Baucus’s top 10 contributors have remained the same since the 2002 election–predominantly health and finance-related industries–but nearly all ramped up their contributions this cycle, in the midst of an economic crisis and in preparation for impending health care reform. Absent a threat to his elected office, Baucus’s surge in contributions is most likely a reflection of his rise to chair of the Finance Committee, a position that many industries will need to push in order to see their desired policy changes implemented.

Since 1989, Baucus’s top donors have been American International Group (AIG), Goldman Sachs and New York Life Insurance–in the 2008 election cycle alone, these companies’ employees and PACs contributed $148,550 to his campaign chest. After law firms, securities and investment companies and insurance companies, the most generous industries to Baucus’s campaigns have been health professionals and pharmaceuticals. The health sector has given Baucus at least $2.8 million during his career, more than any other sector with the exception of finance, insurance and real estate companies, which have given him $4.6 million.

This year Baucus is looking to spearhead some major changes in health care, including expanding both the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid to cover more individuals. He also supports requiring all Americans to obtain health insurance coverage, departing from President-elect Barack Obama’s plan, which requires that only children be covered. In November of last year, Baucus released a 98-page “call to action,” outlining his visions for a new health care system. Baucus’s committee is charged with determining if such an overhaul is fiscally possible.Industry Favors: “Amgen’s political action committee contributes on a bi-partisan basis to federal and select state candidates. The members of Congress and candidates chosen for these contributions are generally supportive of important issues such as patient access to existing and future innovative products, and innovation preservation,” said Kelley Davenport, director of corporate communications for Amgen, which has given Baucus $50,750 through its PAC and employees, putting the biotechnology company among his 20 most generous donors. Invests in: As chair of a committee that, in part, manages government spending, Baucus doesn’t have the greatest track record with his own personal finances, at least not compared to his colleagues in the Senate. Last year his personal investments put him in debt by as much as $68,000. At most, he was worth $265,000 (members of Congress report the value of their investments in ranges, so we can’t calculate their exact net worths). This made him the eighth poorest member of the Senate. But he’s moved up a little in the ranks from 2006, when he was poorer than all but two other senators. In 2007 Baucus was one of eight lawmakers invested in Lehman Brothers, the investment bank that filed for bankruptcy last summer. He also has money invested in defense companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, medical company Genentech and Valero Energy.

Other Money Matters: Despite needing to win support from his party for his proposals, Baucus hasn’t been a big funder of his colleagues’ campaigns. His leadership PAC, Glacier PAC, has given away only 15 percent of the total $3.5 million it has raised since the 2000 election cycle. In His Own Words: “Health care reform is not a distraction from addressing the economy,” Baucus told the Senate Finance Committee in November, one week after announcing his own health care reform plan. “Health care reform is central to restoring America’s economy. Comprehensive health reform legislation must be part of any successful economic recovery plan.”

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Viveca Novak
(202) 354-0111
press@crp.org

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